Thursday, April 18, 2013

Timp on a Thursday with Twight

Today was another one of those days. Starting out, plumes were visible ripping off the high peaks putting a damper on our eager plans head up one of my favorite ski mountains, Timpanogos. Mark Twight, who needs no introduction, was my partner for the day and he had never skied the Sleeping Maiden before and was hoping for a good first go. On the way down, we debated the different lines and although I was initially leaning toward something on the West Face, I'm glad Mark urged us toward the Grunge.

We hoped it would be sheltered from the wind and harbor stable powder. We hoped the winds would die down. We hoped the temperatures would remain unseasonably cold to preserve our nice snow and keep the wet slides at bay.

We got lucky on all accounts.

Walking back to the truck, Mark quoted the oft repeated phrase, "It's better to be lucky than good." That's an interesting idea that I've been pondering tonight and might touch on at a later date...

But for now, here are some more pictures of the always fantastic Mount Timpanogos:

Mark and a whole lot of nice looking ski terrain

Aahhh, the object of our affection for the day

The snowpack is looking a little haggard at the lower elevations but up high it's still pretty nice

Looking for a safe spot to put on our skis (photo by MT)

Returning from doing battle with the cornice. We decided it wasn't worth the effort. (photo by MT)

Mark nearing our high point

Ski cutting the upper Grunge (photo by MT)

Mark finding soft stable snow in the Grunge on his first trip to Timp

About to enjoy a HUGE apron with some pretty decent snow (photo by MT)

Mark, a bunch of turns later...

Not bad for a Thursday morning. BTW, the walk is about to the turn off for the Timpanooke campground with mostly continuous snow from there.